Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02815592 2013-05-13
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRIMMING PLANT MATERIAL
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
This patent document contains material which is subject to copyright
protection.
The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone
of
this patent document as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent
file
or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the field of plant trimming devices, and in
particular, to a
method and apparatus for trimming plant material.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Plant trimming devices have been in operation for some time. Generally, these
devices incorporate a plant trimming device that separates and discharges
waste
plant trimmings from the useful parts of plants. These waste trimmings can be
collected by hand, or more effectively, by a vacuum device that is connected
to
the plant trimming device. Typically, these vacuum devices are large stand
alone
units and are connected to the plant trimming device via extensive hoses.
Viewed as a whole, the plant trimming device and vacuum device occupy a large
footprint making them cumbersome to work around. Accordingly, a need exists
for a compact plant trimming method. Other objects of the invention will be
apparent from the description that follows.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a method of trimming
plant
material. The method includes providing a vacuum device and a plant material
trimming device adjacent the vacuum device in substantial vertical alignment
with
the vacuum device. The plant material trimming device may have a discharge
port in communication with an intake port of the vacuum device. The method
also includes operating the plant material trimming device to trim plant
material
and operating the vacuum device to draw trimmed plant material from the plant
material trimming device through the discharge port and the intake port into
the
vacuum device.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided an
apparatus for trimming plant material. The apparatus includes a vacuum device
and a plant material trimming device adjacent the vacuum device in substantial
vertical alignment with the vacuum device. The plant material trimming device
may have a discharge port in communication with an intake port of the vacuum
device.
The discharge port of the plant material trimming device may be substantially
vertically aligned with the intake port of the vacuum device.
The method may further include providing a conduit and attaching the conduit
to
the discharge port of the plant material trimming device and to the intake
port of
the vacuum device.
The discharge port of the plant material trimming device may be directly
connectable to the intake port of the vacuum device.
A locking device, such as a clamp, may be provided to lock the discharge port
of
the plant material trimming device to the intake port of the vacuum device.
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Other aspects of the invention will be appreciated by reference to the
detailed
description of the preferred embodiment and to the claims that follow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The preferred embodiment of the invention will be described by reference to
the
drawings thereof in which:
Fig. us an exploded perspective view of a plant material trimming apparatus;
and
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the plant material trimming apparatus with
directly
connected intake and discharge ports.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
OF THE INVENTION
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a plant material trimming apparatus 10 is
depicted.
The apparatus 10 includes a vacuum device 12 with an intake port 14 and a
plant
material trimming device 16 with a discharge port 18. As depicted, the plant
material trimming device 16 may sit on a frame 20 to which vacuum device 12
may also be attached thereto. Frame 20 is beneficial in providing support to
the
overall apparatus 10. However, as those skilled in the art will appreciate,
plant
material trimming device 16 may be directly mounted on top of the vacuum
device 12. Although the plant material trimming device 16 is depicted on top
of
the vacuum device 12, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, the
positions of
each can be reversed with the vacuum device residing atop of the plant
trimming
device. Preferably, to take advantage of gravity, the vacuum device 14 resides
below the plant trimming device 16.
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Generally, the discharge port 18 of the plant material trimming device 16 is
substantially vertically aligned with the upper intake port 14 of the vacuum
device
12. A conduit 22, such as a rubber hose or nylon sleeve, may be attached via a
locking means, such as a clamp, band or the like (not illustrated), to the
discharge port 18 and to the intake port 14 to facilitate movement of the
plant
material from the plant trimming device to the vacuum device.
As depicted in Fig. 2, discharge port 18 may be directly connected to intake
port
14. In this instance, preferably the diameter of discharge port 18 is smaller
than
intake port 14 so that the discharge port may slide into the intake port.
Preferably, a locking means 24, such as a clamp, band or the like is provided
to
directly lock the discharge port 18 and the intake port 14 together.
As those skilled in the art will appreciate, discharge port 18 and intake port
14
may not be joined together at all. In this instance, trimmed plant material
may
simply fall from the plant trimming device 16 into the vacuum device 12. To
ensure that the vacuum device 12 captures most of the trimmed plant material,
intake port 14 may be dimensioned to resemble a funnel.
Operation
Plant material (not depicted) is inserted into the plant trimming device 16.
As the
plant trimming device 16 trims the plant material, the trimmed plant material
enters the discharge port 18 either through the forces of gravity and/or
through
the suction of the vacuum device 14. The trimmed plant material is then
transported from the discharge port 18 to the intake port 14, again through
gravity
and/or through the forces from the vacuum device. When the discharge port 18
and intake port 14 are not directly connected, the conduit 22 may be attached
to
facilitate movement of the trimmed plant material between the ports.
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While embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such
embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only. The
invention may include variants not described or illustrated herein in detail.
Thus,
the embodiments described and illustrated herein should not be considered to
limit the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.
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